Cosy Countrycide
by Gwen Cooper Williams
Summary: Takes place at the end of Countrycide, before the very last scene. Gwen's thoughts and reflections, and what led her to that point.


She couldn't handle it. Jack just sent everyone home after what happened, as if nothing had happened. As if she hadn't been shot with a shotgun at close range. Owen had patched her up on site, but it still hurt. After they got back to the hub, Owen had examined her again, and told her he'd have to check on it for the next few days and change her dressing twice a day. Frankly, she wonders how much of it is Owen doing his job and how much it is him wanting to see her topless.

Owen. She initially thought he was a wanker when she met him. He called her "newbie" and "sweetheart", acting as if he didn't remember her name. Christ, her name was only one letter different from his. Was it really that hard? Gwen. G-W-E-N. Owen. O-W-E-N. See? And when he kissed her when that...robot...cyberman...woman...Lisa was hunting after them. Oh, he thought he was being so cocky. Kiss for a dying man her arse. She could feel his hard-on against her leg in that tiny cramped space! And his reaction when she pointed it out to him...what a cock. Of course, she'd be lying to herself if she said she hadn't enjoyed it, too.

Gwen didn't know why she followed him into the woods to help with the firewood. She wanted to beat the pants off of him for telling the rest of the team that they had snogged. What business was it of theirs? And after Tosh admitting he was her last snog, it was just uncalled for and hurtful, no matter how true it was. But then suddenly he had her pushed against a tree, and she could once again feel his arousal and she knew she was developing a wet spot on her pants just from being that close to him. She was sure they were going to shag right there up against the tree. If it hadn't been for the person she saw and that carcass.

Then she got shot. She had been a PC for two years and never even had to handle a gun, and here she was, on her first "field trip" with her new job, and she manages to get shot! Oh, the pain. Hot searing pain against her side. Thank God it hadn't hit any of her vital organs, but it still hurt. Owen was so professional, despite her fingers in his hair, despite her wanting to pull his face down and snog him senseless. He took care of her, carefully removing the bullet, and dressing it so gently. Owen wanted to carry her to the pub where they were making base, but she didn't want him to. She had been afraid to allow herself to be in his arms.

When they found Tosh in the woods with the copper and he threatened to shoot Owen, Gwen's heart jumped into her throat. She couldn't let Owen die. She dropped the gun and surrendered. And then when the cannibals had the four of them, she thought for sure _she_ was going to die. And her thoughts weren't on Rhys. She was thinking about Owen.

Gwen snapped out of her thoughts when Rhys asked her if she wanted anything to eat. "No, just some tea, please." She couldn't eat after seeing all of that. Rhys kept asking her what was wrong, how was her day….. and what was she supposed to say? 'Oh, it was great. We got kidnapped by cannibals and I got shot'? She couldn't say anything. Not just because of her job, but because Rhys would never understand. She got up to take a shower. Rhys, of course, offered to join her, but then he'd see her wound. He couldn't see that. She didn't want him to see it, and besides, she was thinking about a different brown-haired man.

She locked herself in the bathroom and gently peeled off the dressing to look at it in the mirror. It looked like a starburst, and she wondered if it would scar. _At least if it did, it would be a pretty scar_, she mused. She got into the shower and set the water to as hot as she could stand it until she finally relaxed. The water going down the drain was stained crimson as she washed off all the dried blood that had been caked onto her skin, on her hair. Rhys knocked on the door. "I've got your tea, but the door's locked." She didn't reply.

After her shower she dressed the wound as best as she could, and put on a red top, just in case it started to bleed through. She tried to watch the telly with Rhys, but all she could think of was the pain in her side, what had happened today, and Owen.

Finally, she gave up. She got up from the couch, grabbed her jacket and purse and simply told Rhys, "I'm going out. Work thing. I might not be back tonight." He nods and she's out the door, mobile phone in hand, ready to text.

_O - You busy? -G_

He immediately replied _Nah. Just getting pissed. You? -O_

She smiled as she walked down the street and quickly wrote back. _Can't drink. My tosser of a Doc won't let me._

They continued to banter back and forth with text messages as she walked through the streets of Cardiff, her grin getting bigger and bigger the closer she got to his flat. She hadn't told him she was on her way over, but they had been flirting heavily for the past ten minutes, so she felt confident she'd be welcomed. She rang the bell outside his flat and waited as his voice came over the intercom "Who the bloody hell is ringin' my doorbell at eleven at night?" She didn't reply, just sent back a text message _It's me._ His response was the buzz of the outer lock unlocking.


End file.
